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  Introduction
  Your most important decision
  Summary
  Foundations
  A definition of impact
  Future generations & their moral significance
  Effective altruism
  Global priorities
  Why problem selection is crucial
  The case for reducing existential risks
  This could be the most important century
  Our current list of pressing problems
  Solutions
  The best solutions are far more effective
  Leverage
  What is leverage, and how to get it?
  Our list of high-impact careers
  Personal fit
  Fit is more important than you think
  Strategy
  What is career capital?
  How much to explore?
  Coordination and impact
  Balancing impact and doing what you love
  Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
  Three career stages
  Conclusion
  How much do careers differ in impact?
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- Problem profiles Find out about the world's biggest and most neglected problems.
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  Top areas to work on
  Positively shaping the development of AI
  Global priorities research
  Building effective altruism
  Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
  Nuclear security
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  Extreme climate change
  Other promising areas
  Mitigating great power conflict
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  Space governance
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  Go to problems hub →
- Career reviews Learn about high-impact career paths.
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  Key categories of impactful careers
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  List of top-recommended career paths
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  Helping build the effective altruism community
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  China-related AI safety and governance
  Forecasting research and implementation
  Sometimes-recommended paths
  High-impact but especially competitive
  Promising but under-researched
  Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
  Recommended career capital
  Steps to build your skills and network
  Making the most of your current job
  Doing good in any career
  How to invest in yourself
  See all our career reviews →
- Planning & decision making Use our tools to make concrete plans.
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  Create a high-impact career plan
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  Make good career decisions
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  How many lives does a doctor save?
  What's the impact of voting?
  Advice for undergraduates
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  2017 career guide
  All career guide pages →
Read the full guide →
Introduction
Your most important decision
Summary
Foundations
A definition of impact
Future generations & their moral significance
Effective altruism
Global priorities
Why problem selection is crucial
The case for reducing existential risks
This could be the most important century
Our current list of pressing problems
Solutions
The best solutions are far more effective
Leverage
What is leverage, and how to get it?
Our list of high-impact careers
Personal fit
Fit is more important than you think
Strategy
What is career capital?
How much to explore?
Coordination and impact
Balancing impact and doing what you love
Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
Three career stages
Conclusion
How much do careers differ in impact?
Read the full guide →
Go to problems hub →
Top areas to work on
Positively shaping the development of AI
Global priorities research
Building effective altruism
Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
Nuclear security
Improving institutional decision making
Extreme climate change
Other promising areas
Mitigating great power conflict
Global governance
Space governance
See all →
Go to problems hub →
See all our career reviews →
Key categories of impactful careers
Government and policy
Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
Research
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Communication
Earning to give
List of top-recommended career paths
AI safety technical research
Long-term AI policy
Founder of new projects
Helping build the effective altruism community
Grantmaker
Operations management in high-impact organisations
Research into global priorities
Biorisk research, strategy, and policy
China-related AI safety and governance
Forecasting research and implementation
Sometimes-recommended paths
High-impact but especially competitive
Promising but under-researched
Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
Recommended career capital
Steps to build your skills and network
Making the most of your current job
Doing good in any career
How to invest in yourself
See all our career reviews →
See all planning resources →
Create a high-impact career plan
8-week career planning course
Summary
Career plan template
Annual career check-up
Make good career decisions
Make an immediate decision
Improve your decision-making skills
See all planning resources →
Selected topics
Moral philosophy
Skills
Job satisfaction
Anonymous advice
Unconventional advice
What to study
Advocacy
Catastrophic risks
Meta-causes
Priority paths
See all topics →
Top articles from outside our guides
What makes for a dream job?
Best charities to donate to
Misconceptions about effective altruism
High-impact research questions
What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
How many lives does a doctor save?
What's the impact of voting?
Advice for undergraduates
All articles →

2017 career guide
All career guide pages →
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- Effective Altruism: An Introduction
- Effective Altruism: Ten Global Problems
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Big picture (96)
- Longtermism (41)
- Moral philosophy (39)
- Now vs. Later (7)
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  - Improving Decision Making (29)
  - Promoting Effective Altruism (65)
- Other causes (14)
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  - Gun Control (3)
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- Scientific research (27)
  - Biomedical Research (9)
  - Science policy and infrastructure (10)

Priority paths (138)
- AI policy (22)
- AI technical safety (27)
- Biorisk strategy & policy (20)
- China specialists (5)
- Earning to give in quant trading (6)
- Forecasting & related research and implementation (14)
- Grantmaker (14)
- Operations at high impact organisations (13)
- Global priorities research (35)
- Roles at effective altruism organisations (16)

Careers (347)
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Frameworks and planning (182)
- Career capital (47)
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- Career trends (4)
- Decision making (29)
- Decision Tools (33)
- Exploration (4)
- Frameworks (30)
  - Cause selection (7)
- Keeping options open (13)
- Personal fit (52)
  - Ability (19)
  - Job satisfaction (23)
- Rules of Thumb (18)
- Your Plan (24)
Other topics (171)
- Anonymous advice (18)
- Best resources (13)
- Effective Altruism (46)
- Forecasting (1)
- High Impact People (9)
- Job opportunities (12)
- Mental health (4)
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- Unconventional advice (69)
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- What to study (12)
Strategies (117)
- Advocacy (26)
- Earning to Give (80)
  - Donation effectiveness (12)
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  - EtG pros and cons (14)
  - Income (16)
- Influencing budgets (7)
Updates (42)

Topic archive: Ability

Filter by content type:
All19
Blog posts14
Key articles5

All content tagged "Ability"

2021

September

Personal fit: why being good at your job is even more important than people think
Article

May

How much do people differ in productivity? What the evidence says.
Blog post

March

How to identify your personal strengths
Article

2020

September

Notes on good judgement and how to develop it
Blog post

2019

November

Anonymous answers: How risk-averse should talented young people be about their careers?
Blog post

August

How replaceable are the top candidates in large hiring rounds? Why the answer flips depending on the distribution of applicant ability
Blog post

2017

April

Should you wait to make a difference? (Updated)
Article

2015

June

Check with your gut, but don’t go with it (Updated)
Article

2014

October

Should you wait to make a difference? (First published)
Article
Check with your gut, but don’t go with it (First published)
Article

August

Job satisfaction research
Article

May

What we can learn about career choice from the Terman study
Blog post

2013

August

Does your personality matter in picking a career?
Blog post
Why the Myers Briggs test is not useful in picking a career
Blog post

May

Intelligence matters more than you think for career success
Blog post

April

How important is fitting in at work?
Blog post

January

Should you go into research? – part 2
Blog post

2012

December

Our research on how to find a job you love
Blog post
How to judge your chances of success
Blog post

September

How good are the best?
Blog post

July

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: A popular but flawed way of understanding your personality
Blog post

Filter by content type:
All19
Blog posts14
Key articles5

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80,000 Hours is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398).

Please contact us to suggest ideas, improvements, or corrections.

We do our best to provide useful information, but how you use the information is up to you. We don’t take responsibility for any loss that results from the use of information on the site. Please consult our full legal disclaimer and privacy policy.